Who is the funniest man ever? It's a hard question to answer. First of all, we don't have access to all the data. Maybe it was some guy who lived in the 17th century in... oh, let's say, what is now Zimbabwe. We wouldn't know. But boy, those Zulus died laughing!

Stop being silly, Jew or Not Jew! No one is talking about some random dude no one has heard of. Let's discuss the modern world, say from the onset of the 20th century. Who is the funniest man ever?

Again, an almost impossible question to answer. Take Carrot Top, for one, a terribly unfunny prop comedian. You couldn't pay us to watch his set. And yet, he sells out venues all the time. People find him funny. There is no accounting for taste! We imagine if we surveyed 100 people, we would get 90 different answers.

You know who would be a good answer? Mel Brooks. Seriously, you can't go wrong with Mel Brooks. He is the first ever perfect score on JONJ for a reason.

But if you ask Mel Brooks himself, the funniest man ever is... Harry Ritz. Yep, we haven't exactly heard of him either, so read on.

Ritz was part of the Ritz Brothers, a comedy act that started in 1929 and went all the way into the 1970s, even after one brother died. They sang, they danced, the fell down a lot. They made movies. Harry was the leader, influencing Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Jerry Lewis, and of course, Brooks. According to Mel, "his craziness and his freedom were unmatched. [...] Harry Ritz was the funniest man ever."

So there you have it.